Love And War
by Feilyn
Summary: All's fair in love and war, and this is both. Gin might not be able to kill Rangiku, but that's not going to stop her.


_By no means my best work, but I'm finding it harder and harder to access the Gin/Ran ever since my Bleach OTP shifted to Rangiku/Byakuya._

_Ah, well. Written for _**Waya.Y**_the winner of The Stage's chapter 18 drabble. She requested Rangiku hunting the field for Gin to kill him, with Gin/Ran overtones and I tried my very hardest to deliver._

_Hope you all enjoy!_

xXx

The war had come.

They weren't losing, but they weren't winning either. They'd already lost Komamura to Tousen, Mayuri to one of the Espada and Ukitake to Aizen himself. That had rendered Shunsui useless for a few weeks until Nanao was almost killed. Then the true power of (zanpakuto) was unleashed.

Rangiku was out there with Hitsugaya, watching his back and taking charge of the communications between each Tenth Division squad and the other Divisions. Her job was simple – keep the Hollow and lower level Arrancar off her Captain while he killed the big ones.

She still hadn't found Gin.

The thought of him haunted her every waking thought and most of her sleeping ones, all of them centred on the one word.

Kill.

He was hers, just as Tousen was now Hisagi's and Aizen was Shunsui's. It would be Matsumoto Rangiku and no other who would kill Ichimaru Gin. Having known him the longest, she thought it was quite fair to say she had the right.

She was prowling the frontlines, barking her Captain's orders into her headset when she saw him out of the corner of her eyes. She whipped around, but there was no one there.

A tap on her shoulder.

"Yo, Ran-chan."

She didn't stop to think. "Growl, Haineko!"

But he was gone.

"Matsumoto." Her Captain flash-stepped up to her. "What was that?"

Rangiku licked her lips, nervous. "Nothing, taichō. My mistake."

He looked up at her critically. "Retreat, fukutaichō."

"Taichō—"

"He's not out here." Tōshirō's tone was unusually soft. "Not yet, at least and you need a rest. You won't do any good on the frontlines if you can barely see straight."

She gritted her teeth for a split-second and then pasted on a grin that nearly split her face. "Hai, taichō! Try not to get yourself killed without me, ne?"

He gave her a wry twist of her lips before returning to the fray, trusting her to return to the base on her own.

He shouldn't have.

There were many things on which Rangiku could be trusted, but as the war dragged on and more and more people fell to Shinsō, Gin was not one of them. He was out there, tantalizing, teasing her.

She didn't retreat.

"_Ran-chan…_"

His voice was singing in her ear, fuelling her rage but still she couldn't find him.

"_Ran…-chan…_"

Wait.

_There_.

"I've got you now," she growled, drawing Haineko.

She could see him, silver hair glinting as he chuckled and speared another three shinigami through the gut.

His head jerked up suddenly, and his eyes flickered open to meet with hers. It wasn't a shock. They'd grown up together, how could it be? Rangiku bared her teeth in a grin just as he smirked at her.

She knew what that smirk said. _You won't kill me_.

"You're mine, Gin," she called, and over the sound of battle, he heard her. The smirk faltered, then widened again.

A hand on her shoulder.

"T-taichō?" she stuttered, concentration broken momentarily.

"Stand down, fukutaichō," Tōshirō said softly. "Leave him to me."

She shook her head, forging her resolve anew. "No."

"Stand. _Down_. Fukutaichō."

"I won't!" she cried, ripping away from his reassuring presence.

Gin turned to slaughter another our shinigami, finishing just in time to meet Haineko as she crashed down upon him.

"Matsumoto!"

She ignored her Captain. The only thing that matter right now was Gin and the fact that she was going to kill him.

"Ya won' do it, Ran-chan," he taunted, easily meeting her enraged strokes. "Ya can'."

She didn't reply.

It went on like that for over an hour. Eventually she calmed down enough to improve her hold, her stance until she was matching him strike for strike, savouring the way the smirk had been wiped away, to be replaced with a look of grim concentration.

The war went on outside of Rangiku and Gin, but she couldn't care less.

"What'll ya do…if ya…kill me. Ran-chan?" Gin panted.

She delivered a flurry of short, sharp strokes that he struggled to avoid. He still didn't want to kill her. He was holding back.

She wasn't.

"Live, Gin."

_There_.

He faltered. It was only for a split second, but a split-second was enough for Rangiku.

The sound he made as Haineko slid through his ribs was one of wet surprise as blood gushed into his lungs. His eyes snapped wide open.

"Weren't expecting that, were you now, Gin-kun?" she whispered, twisting her zanpakutō a little. A trickle of blood slipped from his mouth to trace his jugular. She leaned in close.

"R-Ran…"

"Just because I love you, Gin," she breathed. "Doesn't mean I don't want to kill you."

xXx

_Guh…_

_I, um._

_Well, I'm really sorry, _**Waya.Y**


End file.
